Texas Tech Student Diversity Hosts GLBT Legal Issues Forum

Legal issues facing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people will be the topic of   discussion at a forum from 4-7 p.m. April 16 at the Texas Tech University School of Law Lanier Professional Development Center at 18^th Street and Indiana Avenue. "Scales of (In)Justice: Legal Issues and the GLBT Person," touching on topics such as same-sex marriage, adoption and foster parenting, Proposition 8, and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," is free and open to the public. Free parking is available in Commuter West Lot C-17, across the street from the Law School and west of Indiana Avenue. After a welcome reception in the lobby area, presentations will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Hunt Courtroom. Speakers for the presentation portion of the forum are Paul Scott, executive director of Equality Texas and Equality Texas Foundation; and Aaron Tax, of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN). A roundtable panel discussion and question and answer session will take place from 6-7 p.m. Panelists include Scott and Tax, as well as Joyce Carter, associate professor, Texas Tech Department of English; and Grace Rogers, retired teacher, and a member of the Lubbock Chapter of Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Calvin Lewis, associate dean for Student Affairs and Diversity at the Law School will moderate. Scott joined Equality Texas and Equality Texas Foundation in 2006. He oversees advocacy, education and lobbying initiatives across the state for Texans of all sexual orientations and gender identities. He previously served as executive director of the Resource Center of Dallas, the third largest LGBT Community Center in the country.  Scott earned a bachelor's degree from Emory University and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from the University of Georgia.  Prior to joining SLDN in 2006, Tax spent three years working for the Department of the Army, including two years as a Presidential Management Fellow. During his fellowship, he served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. In his final year with the Army, Tax wrote final agency decisions in employment discrimination cases. Tax earned his bachelor's in Policy Analysis from Cornell University and his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from The George Washington University Law School. While at Cornell, he was president of the Cornell Democrats, interned for Sen. Edward Kennedy, the White House and at the Democratic National Committee. The event is sponsored by Texas Tech's School of Law, Office of Student Diversity Relations and Student Counseling Center, as well as PFLAG Lubbock Chapter, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) and Equality Texas and Equality Texas Foundation.  Find Texas Tech news, experts and story ideas at www.media.ttu.edu. CONTACT: Calvin Lewis, associate dean for Student Affairs and Diversity, Texas Tech University School of Law, (806) 742-3990 ext. 274, or calvin.lewis@ttu.edu.